AGA Cautions Against Results of New Stanford Report

The American Gas Association urges reporters and the scientific community to exercise caution when using numbers or conclusions from the latest paper from Stanford University and author Rob Jackson in reporting and examinations of the safety of gas stoves. The latest report models outcomes based on previously published conclusions and data that were not validated and lack sufficient transparency for independent analysis. It also cherry picks effectively four homes out of 87 from that data to draw conclusions that may easily be misinterpreted to apply to the entire U.S. population – the total number of houses that cook with natural gas, propane or duel fuel in the U.S. is 45 million according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

“An independent analysis of the prior report identified several concerning issues with measurement methods and sample representativeness that remain unaddressed in this new study,” said Richard Meyer, AGA Vice President of Energy Markets, Analysis and Standards. “Any conclusions made in this paper should be viewed with a high degree of scrutiny.”

“This study appears to fall short of the standard expected by a university such as Stanford, as we have seen time and time again on this politically charged issue,” said AGA President and CEO Karen Harbert. “Natural gas has been one of the primary drivers for achieving environmental progress across the globe. Our industry continues to innovate and advance technologies to help ensure Americans have access to the safe, efficient, reliable and affordable energy that they need and expect.”

Stanford environmental scientist Rob Jackson has published a new study on post-meter emissions each year since 2022. Each new study has built upon previous reports, which were questioned and lack independent validation. Each report has also been accompanied by media campaigns that employ scare tactics to garner maximum attention. This report is the latest iteration of that cycle and paints a similarly harrowing picture built on unvalidated data. A February 2024 study published in The Lancet medical journal and funded by the World Health Organization (WHO) with no industry partnerships confirmed that the risk of asthma from natural gas use was potentially exaggerated in previous studies with little or no limited adjustment for confounders, such as in previous Stanford studies authored by Jackson, and found that heating and cooking with natural gas are not associated with asthma, wheeze, cough or breathlessness and was in fact associated with lower risk of several health conditions when compared to other household fuels including kerosene and solid fuels. Read more about the WHO study here.